Drake Bulldogs head men's basketball coach Ben McCollum was dressed in his standard attire for the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday—a pair of black pants, a white button-up shirt, and blue tie. It's the same outfit he wears for every game day, and one that he was sporting again as Drake defeated Missouri, securing the program's first NCAA Tournament win since 1971.
McCollum wasn't the only one dressed in his signature outfit for the special occasion. Several Drake fans in the crowd dressed up like McCollum for the game, a recent tradition the fan base has begun. Even the team's mascot dresses like McCollum now!
"He wears the same thing every single game, and he doesn't change a thing," Larry Stelter, a Drake fan, said in February, via Jeff Dubrof of KCCI 8 Sports. "So we decided to start doing the same thing."
All those older Drake fans behind the bench dressed as Ben McCollum is what makes college basketball special. What a moment for them 😭🥹 pic.twitter.com/W47wWVWG3G
— Cole Adams (@coleadamss) March 21, 2025
Drake brought in Ben McCollum a year ago and the entire fanbase including the mascot is dressed up as him
— Cole Adams (@coleadamss) March 9, 2025
pic.twitter.com/McGmMK6XdR
McCollum reacted to the fans dressed like him after the game, joking, "I think it's awesome. It's not that they dress up like me, a lot of them have more hair than me. ... It's cool. They take a lot of pride."
Drake Bulldogs' head coach Ben McCollum on how passionate the Drake fanbase is 👏 pic.twitter.com/OzcyBjZiL6
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) March 21, 2025
As for McCollum, his decision to wear the same outfit every day maintains his professional appearance while keeping him from having to spend time thinking about which shirt and tie go together.
"I would always spend a lot of time choosing between a shirt and a tie and hoping they match," McCollum said, via KCCI 8 Sports. "They would always be poorly matched."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Drake Coach Ben McCollum Cracked Perfect Joke About Fans Dressing Up As Him.
